"Our aircraft was never in Iranian airspace. It was always flying in international air space. The recognized limit is 12 nautical miles off the coast and we never entered the 12 nautical mile limit," Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said in responding to questions from reporters after CNN reported the incident.

Little said the United States believed this was the first time an unmanned aircraft was shot at by the Iranians in international waters over the Gulf. In December of 2011, a U.S. surveillance drone crashed in eastern Iran. Iranians claimed to have shot it down, and created a toy model of the drone to celebrate its capture.

Little stopped short of calling the incident an act of war although the Pentagon was concerned.

Two U.S. officials explained the jets were part of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps force, which has been more confrontational than regular Iranian military forces.

At least two bursts of gunfire came from the Su-25s' cannons. The drone started to move away but the Iranian aircraft chased it, doing aerial loops around it before breaking away and returning to Iran.

The Obama administration did not disclose the incident before the presidential election, but three senior officials confirmed the details to CNN on Thursday. They declined to be identified because of sensitive intelligence matters surrounding the matter.

The drone's still and video cameras captured the incident showing two Su-25s approaching the Predator and firing onboard guns.

The Iranian pilots continued to fire shots that went beneath the Predator but were never successful in hitting it, according to the officials.

U.S. military intelligence analysts are still not sure if the Iranian pilots simply were unable to hit the drone due to lack of combat skill, or whether they deliberately were missing and had no intention of bringing it down.

But as one of the officials said, "it doesn't matter, they fired on us."

Little said the United States has to assume Iran was trying to bring down the Predator.

The United States protested the incident but had not heard back from Iran.

soundoff(3,883 Responses)

What planet are Republicans from??? Your boy got WHOOPED! It would have made such a difference if this would have came out before the election huh??? BUHAHAHAHA! You will never learn, hence why you are a DYING breed.

Hello from Canada. I have to point out how utterly pathetic some of you people are. And hypocritical. If there was an Iranian drone within a thousand miles of the USA it would be shot down. The US has drones, warships, aircraft all over the middle east, you spy on other countries, you fly drones over their airspace...come on. Get bloody real.

As for you whining Republicans and other partisans on here–grow up. You are an embarrassment to your country. Are you going to spend the next four years crying on a CNN message board? What a disgrace.

you tell em Fish. Can you imagine if an iranian military aircraft was flying 16 miles off the california coast? that's in viewable distance if you're hanging out on the beach. US population is too susceptible to propaganda. this is an american provocation of war, not and iranian provocation of war. Convenient that it came out the day AFTER the election. if you all think obama is going to stay out of iran, you're all kidding yourselves.

We've had higher casualties than your country in Afghanistan, as a percentage of our population. We have been there fighting and dying for ten years you thankless POS. You're likely to ignorant and self-absorbed to even know that.

Sorry we sat out that stupid, illegal misadventure of your buddy Bush. Chretien had the sense to know better.

November 8, 2012 at 8:22 pm |

Sam James

To compare the U.S. air space and drones off the Atlantic coast to conditions in the Middle East is ludicrous and totally in denial of the terrorist activities going on in the region. I would suppose you would compare Toronto as being in a similar state of affairs as Aleppo! How ridiculous.....stop drinking the Kool-aid and comment in some logical way to the current conditions around us.

Conditions? Right, conditions. If there were Iranian drones spying on our shores, your right, the conditions would be different. Conditions are as conditions do. So our government goes into a region, creates a certain "condition" which in turn justify their actions to people who are not willing to see what is going on. Which so happens to be a large majority of this country.

November 8, 2012 at 8:12 pm |

Fish

Ooooo the terrorists. the terrorist. Guess what, your government are the largest sponsors of terror in the world. You believe all the freedom and democracy BS? RIGHT. You're4 happy to prop up dictators if they do your bidding. And your terrorists are "freedom fighters". It's all for empire, and guess what? Yours is declining. It's over. One day you won't be the big one on the block.

November 8, 2012 at 8:28 pm |

Matic

Umm actually other nations do the same thing, and there are ample instances of drones, surveillance ships etc approaching American airspace, millitary assets, and American warships, it's a regular occurrence in fact.

I love to hear from Canadians. You have any idea why you dont have to pay fro a military? You think it may have something to do with living in the shadow of the US. Shut Up and enjoy your freedom paid for by the US.

As you can see , Fish, given the chance, the right wing in America would alienate every last one of our allies. I know you guys fight in wars with us, I've met your soldiers. Good thing the right wing has no idea how to win an election anymore. LOL

Ha! How cute! I know that are just going through withdraw since the NHL went on strike. Big boy countries are talking, so maybe try to be quite while your country's number one export is Bryan Adams CDs

You know, a major reasons great powers fall is hubris. Like yours. The world is changing. People are getting sick of the hypocricy and bullying of your country. Read your history. You will not be powerful forever.

The nuke solution is for people who fail to think . . . . Why do you suppose they banned above-ground testing? Because of the loud noise it makes? . . . No . . . Because when a nuke goes off, it blasts radiation up into the stratosphere . . . . and it comes back down all over the world . . . including on you . . . . nice thinking bumpkin.

Even though it was in international waters, this was most likely a warning shot to clear the area. At this point the Iranians do not want to escalate anything. Not a threat to the pilot since they are in a remote location. It appears the point was taken and the UAV returned to base.

Ohhh! If only America had known that Iranians fired on a drone and missed! 100% of Obama voters would have suddenly decided to vote for the whack-job party and their candidate Richie Rich who planned on lowering our deficit by tripling it.

Maybe the Iranians did this on the eve of the election to provoke a response. Maybe the Iranians would rather Mitt Romney was president and they did this to try and tilt the election towards him. It seems all the Obama haters here want our elections influenced by Iranian parlor tricks. That is why you are not in charge, you are all stones and no brains. But we'll need your guns in case the Russians ever invade. LOL.

Wrong again. see #3
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eve
1
: evening
2
: the evening or the day before a special day
3
: the period immediately preceding

November 8, 2012 at 7:52 pm |

chris

Wow your rather unitelligent. Problems have been on the rise there and it happened Nov 1st. Now I know liberals are bad at math and 1 comes before 6. Watch big bird he can help you . You still have all the public funding you need including TV. Or call your local GED office with your free cell phone and book a class. One favor also, why is it so hard for Liberals to understand facts?

@John,thank God the Mormon moron wasn't elected to have this problem to deal with because we'd be in a war and this chicken hawk would've had all 500 of his generals,admirals cheering him on ,yah know the ones that signed his pledge backing him in the Washington Post...

It's obvious the President was briefed on it, but how would Romney have access to this knowledge? Your intelligence escapes you.

November 8, 2012 at 7:54 pm |

Etch A. Sketch

Mormon Bishop Mittens has been getting the same intelligence briefings as Obama since August.

That is why he jumped the gun on the Benghazi incident and embarrassed himself.

November 8, 2012 at 7:59 pm |

William Hoblitzell

Doesn't a country have the right to defend its borders? America would also shoot down surveillance drones if another nation were spying on us. Seems like a perfectly legitimate act of self-defense to me.

Uh, no we wouldn't... Lots of countries monitor the US, the soviets would park ballastic missile submarines off our coast and run missle drills. As long as they stay in international waters/airspace, we wouldn't touch them.

Well that's because the USSR had nuclear bombs, and Iran doesn't. It's why we invaded Iraq and never touched North Korea. The point is that we would never allow a military base to be spied on in our territories. The Air Force has the stated policy to shoot down surveillance jets.

This article is thinly veiled US Military propaganda. Guessing I just made the terror watch list haha

November 8, 2012 at 7:50 pm |

BobJ

We're sending drones 16 miles off their coast, and they're the aggressors? What would we do if they sent a drone that close to our coast? It's time to start minding our own business.

A little idiocy here BOBJ. The world has shipping lanes that are in international waters that far off of the iranian coast. Countries around the world rely upon these lanes, and the US helps patrol them.

Who said that the drone was monitoring Iran? We have a presence in that area to keep the shipping lanes open of which Iran has threatened to close them. If it ever happens again, we should consider it an act of war and shoot down their jets.

I don't hear anything about a Russian or Chinese or Iranian drone flying off the Gulf of Mexico, near the U.S. why do we have drones flying near Iran which is not that far from Russia. A couple of days ago, the Russian foreign minister rejected any sanctions against Syria (which is Iran's buddy) and China backed it up. I think the East is getting tired of the West doing stuff in the East. Let's focus on fixing our own economy, and lots of other issues which George Bush left us with.

Yeah it's a real laugh that they feel confident enough to fire on our drones with Obama as our leader. When has that ever happened before? Oh that's right NEVER. I guess you will be rolling over laughing when they fire on one of our ships and WWIII starts.

You think it's funny we have yet again been attacked by the Iranians? I can not wait till the us has to deal with a at home ground attack cause I think it will be funny to watch people like you lose your homes and lives then run to Obama for help who in turn will do nothing as usual.

If it were reported BEFORE the election, the right wingers would say it was manipulation by the President to win the election. If it were reported AFTER the election, the right wingers would say it s manipulation by the pres ... Well, you get it.

You thin-skinned apologetic spineless wimps elected one of your own to Commander-in-Chief and you can bet Iran, North Korea, and maybe even China are going to have a little fun pushing us around the playground for the next 4 years....

GWBush would be all over this, and put Iran in it's place. Obama? He's gonna try to "hug" Iran more. Get used to it, wimps.

At what point in time do Paul and Hadenuffyet actually stand up and FIGHT? Someone throw trash on your yard and you smile and wave? Someone come over and have a good time with your wife, you just slink off to the basement on your computers?

You sound like wimps – not ready/willing/able to stand for anything. So tell me, what WOULD it take for you to agree to a war with Iran??

Former Defense Secretary Gates ... a REPUBLICAN ... said that going to war with Iran would be one of the biggest mistake in US history if it ever happened

November 8, 2012 at 7:51 pm |

Fire fighter Rob

Are you offering to send yourself and your kids to go fight Iran?

November 8, 2012 at 7:52 pm |

Dennis

Ask Romney.

November 8, 2012 at 7:52 pm |

BldrRepublican

LIke I said Etch, Dennis, et al....GET used to being pushed around the playground.....Your guy in the Oval Office is limp-wristed peter-puffer, like you.

None of you could fight your way out of a paper bag....

November 8, 2012 at 7:56 pm |

Etch A. Sketch

I seem to recall that ... Osama Bin Laden and the entire core Al Qaeda leadership are dead ...

I seem to recall that many of the dictators in the Middle East have fallen ... like that Gadafi guy.

I seem to also recall that Obama succeeded in getting the Russians and Chinese to support cripply UN sanctions against Iranian. Never done before by any other administration.

All under Obama's watch. These things don't happen by accident.

November 8, 2012 at 8:03 pm |

Dennis

BldrRepublican:The more you post here on this subject,the more dumber you sound.Give it up son,your Mormon hero wasn't elected.He's not in charge and neither are you...But we know who is,and thank God,he's not a Republican or a Mormon!

November 8, 2012 at 8:13 pm |

Richard Nichols

BldrRepublican Did you over dose on your Viagra or are you just stupid?

cry cry cry,.............make a mother sigh..........four more years.............had to live under Bush for most of my 20s so now I get to enjoy my 30s with and intelligent leader..........why don't you to target practice with the M16 you keep in the closet Tool!

November 8, 2012 at 8:06 pm |

Hydro66

Obama weak? You mean the guy who actually tracked down and killed Bin Laden, versus Bush who spent 8 years looking in the wrong country for him? Bush would be all over this? Laughable.

Obama didn't track down bin Laden. Obama was safely and securely in the White House, and watch the whole event unfold on a video transmission.

None of the intelligence agencies changed leadership when Obama took office. That means it was the same guy leading the intelligence (CIA, etc) for the Bush administration as well as the Obama administration.

That means Obama had nothing to do with it. Get real.

November 8, 2012 at 8:00 pm |

yourmomma

dude really,..........yeah, let's just go spend more money on war......do you realize that's what is costing this nation the most money............we need to strengthen our security keep an eye on our borders and let the rest of the world do what they want with themselves.........kill each other, let em...............kill ours respond...................tired of all this pro-war testosterone crap the Republicans juice up on. The world makes fun of us for trying to police them..................do you wanna be like Rome??????????? It fell remember. You know why?..........because they tried to rule everybody!

Rob:If the drone was outside the recognized 12 mile nautical zone,it wasn't in Iranian airspace,itt happened to be in internantional airspace.Read the article again and try to absorb some of the material written.Are you capable of doing that?

We have no moral legitimacy to be involved in the Middle East at all, let alone telling other nations what to do within their own borders. America isn't the world police. Good on Iran. Someone needs to stand up to American military imperialism.

November 8, 2012 at 7:45 pm |

James

The problem is what would the U.S. do if Iran flew a spy drone 12 miles off the coast of Virginia or New York City? Or the Naval Academy? or our Hawaii Ship Docks?

November 8, 2012 at 7:48 pm |

Fire fighter Rob

You believe the article? I am sure that drone was just taking beautiful pictures of the landscape.

Israel was against the Iraq war. They had Saddam as #7 on the threat board. They had zero to do with Afghanistan.
Perhaps you should learn before you mindlessly repeat propaganda. (and hatred). Perhaps until then you could call yourself Paleo Lithic.

Right before he sends the SEALs in. Seriously, how could anybody with half a brain think that Obama's a wuss after the troop surge in Afghanistan, the US involvement in the Libyan Revolution, the Bin Ladin raid, those numerous drone strikes around the Middle East, and our steady increase in military spending?

It in no way resembles a false flag op. It perfectly fits a cold-war-era pattern of aggressive probing of air assets to indicate a willingness to fight as a way to exert diplomatic pressure and to discourage increasing of surveIllance, exactly something a nation trying to gloss over the fact that their "nuclear energy" program is building bombs is going to do.

It's really very simple. Iran is building nukes. We (the West) are trying to discourage this or stop it outright. We want pictures of facilities and are watching their shipping to see any movement of weapons. They are harassing and trying to up the ante of our doing so.

This is all a pattern of rising tensions as a result of the Iranians being hell bent on the destruction of Israel and us being unwilling to do more to stop them early. And it's going to end in a terrible and much bigger war than this generation has ever seen if the president doesn't do better than this, and if the press doesn't stop covering for him.

So you think Iran wants a nuclear weapon just to destroy Israel? I don't believe it. I believe they want a nuclear weapon because they are afraid they will become the next Iraq who didn't have any WMD's. Look at Pakistan. They were protecting Bin Laden and why didn't we go fight them? Because once you have nuclear weapons no one will mess with you.

November 8, 2012 at 8:08 pm |

bilejones

You do realize that all 16 (what sort of whack-job country needs 16) US "intelligence Agencies" have concluded that Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program?

Who's telling you otherwise?
Oh, right Nutjob Netanyahu.

CNN need look no further than this sort of drivel to explain why it's dying.

November 8, 2012 at 8:20 pm |

Peter

We had a drone over Benghazi, witness to the whole debacle and nothing was done, no support sent. Now we have the drone fired on with cameras rolling and, again, nothing was done. No fighters scrambled, no other drones brought to bear their arms and no missiles fired. So what we are telling the world is that American military hardware is just one big target that won't fire back.

The U.S. has fought a number of wars since the Korean war. What have we really accomplished – other than showing the world that we can be fought against, and successfully? Is it any wonder we get little respect?

We would probably shoot a drone down if it was in our country...so why is it so wrong for them to shoot at ours in THEIR COUNTRY. the golden rule applies to gov'ts too people. pathetic double standards. this should be embarassing. instead people think we should bomb them??!! That drone being there is invading iran. im sick of the militeristic culture of this country. were all humans and we are no better than they are for any reason. they dont hate us because we are "free". they hate us because we constantly try to controll them through our corrupt money hungry politicians. people get so fooled by these stories that make us out to be the victim.

The drone was in international waters dummy, read the article at least.

And those who suggest the US had no business having drones outside this line are just being idiots. This is one of the most vital waterways on the planet, an international hotspot, and so rightly many nations are patrolling this area by sea and air alike.

I am so tired of this agenda to start a war with Iran, or any other innocent country for that matter. Yawn. Nobody wants it except for the uneducated and an elite few. Too bad for the "agenda pushers", there is currently an awakening population that can now feel when you are lying, which is pretty much always. CNN's time as a credible news platform is numbered. Enjoy! You've been exposed.

ok excuse my mistake. 16 miles. if a drone was 16 miles off the shore of the U.S. we would shoot it down. also, using insult to argue is a sign of weakness. try using logical reasoning if you wanted to be taken seriously. i respect others opionions but insulting is ignorant and uneducated. i am not a pathetic liberal. i just believe that we have no business being half way across the world when the real problems are here. and if we were not there in the first place, they wouldnt be a threat. and even if they were, if this gov't spent half the money it does on wars on TRUE DEFENSE budgets, we wouldnt have to worry about being attacked anyways. and please, if you disagree, try to argue logically instead of insults or like i said, it just makes you look weak....and if you disagee with that...insult away lol

Please in your comments do not refer to the "Iranians". Please refer to the "Iran's government and the advocates". Iranians have no problem with Americans. We hate from our government. Our government knows themeself very Holy and knows infidel their opponents. excuse me if my english is too bad

^^^^ thats the problem right there. no, they dont need help from our government. its not our business. our country, our people, and our gov't is our business. and thats why our drone got shot at. because the countries in the middle east are sick and tired of being bullied, and controlled by this militerstic country and culture. we think we have a right over everyone in the world. we think were better. embarassing.

November 8, 2012 at 8:11 pm |

Josh

It said something about Iran being aggressive. I would ask first, who's flying in whose airspace?

Iran sure knows how to look like a third world air force. If our US "unmanned drones" carried a fly swatter, Iran would be fishing their simian pilots out of the water. The mother of all embarrassments.

Lets get ready to fight America, lets rally the troops, get ready to spend trillions of dollars, get a couple thousand good old American men and women killed, lets get the war machine going to prove we are macho, the boss, the big cheese, lets make some more fatherless children, motherless too, lets get it going, and why because the newest bogy man IRAN , fired on an UNMANNED DRONE,16 MILES OFF THE COAST. So get your sons and daughter ready....

this is not the New Bogy man this is an old Bogey man....who threatens Isreal with nuclear destruction, denies the holocaust and kills our soldiers....pull your head out....the Iranian govt sucks and needs an ass kicking

Anyone who doesn't understand the peril represented by an aggressive Iran is willfully ignorant. It has a 33 year history of acts of war against Israel and America. But its desire for nuclear weapons adds a dimension that will ignite the Gulf and quickly destroy the economies of the world. To simply reduce this situation to a bellicose America desiring a war is very foolish.

Iran Air Flight 655 was a civilian jet airliner shot down by U.S. missiles on 3 July 1988 as it flew over the Strait of Hormuz at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The aircraft, an Airbus A300B2-203 operated by Iran Air, was flying from Bandar Abbas, Iran to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. While flying in Iranian airspace over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf on its usual flight path, it was destroyed by the United States Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes (CG-49). All 290 onboard including 66 children and 16 crew perished.

It's Israeli zionists stirring the pot again. "Do our bidding, America! Now!" CNN just had an interview with an Israeli diplomat...why? Why not speak with a U.S. and an Iranian diplomat? That's just one way you can tell it's Israel behind the scenes. If you don't understand or believe, just read true history, not what is handed to you in school or by the press, what really happened during the Bolshevik Revolution( 30,000,000 Christians killed by Jews/Zionists), the number of times the Federal Reserve tried to take over the banking in this country since 1776, why the countries that are so-called "bad"(Venezuela, N.Korea, etc) will not accept being part of the World Bank/Federal Reserve/IMF....
BTW, I am not against True Israelites, Palestinians, Arabs or anyone in that region...just zionists in Israel and America!
No war is needed. Rednecks and others, take your hatred and do something positive, go protect our border...or help a family in need nearby or on the East Coast.

First on CNN? Really? This story has been all over the place since this morning. While CNN was covering fluff pieces about the election this morning, this story appeared on The Drudge Report, Fox News, The AP, and a handful of overseas outlets. This story broke on my Facebook feed before CNN even knew that there were drones flying over the gulf. CNN – your source for yesterday's news. Way to drop the ball and then be dishonest about it.

How dare CNN claims this piece of news is "First on CNN"? Could it be this is the first time that CNN finally acknowledging it after withholding the "news" since Nov 1 in order to help some VIP to win in the election process?

their jets fired on our drone and missed; and we consider this an act of war? Assassinating people with drones is an act of war. Since we sell weapons to every country on this planet; maybe the Iranians want to upgrade their jets?

1) Iran and the US are getting closer and closer to a serious conflict, with Iran very possibly haing the means to nuke Israel sometime during this presidential term... How Obama responds is incredibly important to the lives of millions, and...

2) This is major news, which was in the hands of the white house and a sympathetic press, which also somehow failed to reach the public until after a critical election. Meaning the millions of people who may live or die based on this presidents actions have factored in as less important to certain people than winning an election.

I don't care what side of the aisle you are on or what country, what your politics are, or where you are from. We are talking about events which can lead up to nuclear exchanges here. We need to know if this president is on the job, and we need the press to challenge him constantly, not to cover up information and act like a propaganda arm, because if they do this is going to turn into a historical bloodbath and a lot of Israelis and Iranians are going to be replaced with hunks of of green glass.

Really, "Julie?" You're a full blooded American huh? And the "FREE ENERGY" buzzword you are using, which is a construct used by Iranians to imply that their nuclear ambitions are people-friendly efforts to lower electric bills, is just a phrasing you happened upon?

November 8, 2012 at 7:36 pm |

Good Grief!

Improper reporting by CNN.

It's ridiculous to think the US doesn't try to get intelligence information by going over Iranian airspace. Have we forgotten that the Iranians have one of our Predator drones in their hands. I would hope that the US is trying to get this very important data by using unmanned drones. But if one gets shot down, it's clearly not an act of war... it's the low cost of doing drone reconnaissance.

Actually there were no issues with the US instruments it's just that the IRANIAN technology if far,far advanced...
you might appreciate an article on Dr. Keshe's site – KESHE FOUNDATION – IRAN used the tech of FREE ENERGY and uses it for both medical and space advancement today, out of Belgium – free to all governments and people 🙂

Anyone advocating for war or calling the President a coward, YOU can finance the Iranian war on your own over warning shots. We can't AFFORD to get into another Middle Eastern war. You can't advocate for war and simultaneously advocate for deficit reduction. SOME of you radical Republicans can be so contradictory sometimes.

Kevin, you must be talking about Reagan in 1983 in Beirut when our military barracks was bombed that killed 300 Americans! Because of Reagan impotent, incompetent, apologetic, presidency, the Islamic Jihad's did not see three color (Red, White, & Blue) that day, they only saw one color, and that color was YELLOW! Thanks Ronnie

So why are we not taking Military action against IRAN for this. They fired on U.S. Aircraft regardless if it was occupied or not they should be punished by more than diplomatic actions.They are clearly pushing for WAR so at least let them see what some of our missiles can do to persuade them not to fire at us again !

umm because we dont need any wars to further our debt. maybe you should go fight iran for it however theres probably many soldiers who would rather not have to have another war torn country to leave thier families for. dont be so militersitc.

Well CNN, this is not convincing the American people we should go to war! So I will bet your MOSSAD agents in our CIA will blow something up in Chicago and blame it on Iran! Someone please take my bet!

so ... if the Iranian flew a high range spying drone 12 nautical miles off the US Cost, u really think that drone wouldn't be shot down? ... really .. act of war? Common, they even didn't get it .. chill out dudes .. they can do all the firing the want ...

Who are kidding? Why do you send unmanned Drone in Persian Golf? You send it because you do not want to get detected? Otherwise, an aircraft could do samething in International water? You checking Iranian radar system as well as how they may reponse. Israel and US have threathen Iran continously. what do you expect to be their response?! How do they know it is NOT an attack? So lets stop playing game?

The drone in 2011 was not shot down, it was hacked and hijacked by Iran. Months earlier the US military said they knew about deficiencies in their GPS network that they use to control the drones with and hacking was a major concern. They did not plug the holes and there we go.

Shame on you CNN for trying to rewrite actual events that happens, and you call yourself reporters?

They chased it and did aerial loops around it. Sounds like what they've done is practiced chasing and downing a drone, without the provocation of actually downing one. If they thought there's a real possibility they may be at war with the U.S. then this is a useful skill for them to attain.

I am sure that drone was just taking pictures of the beautiful landscape 😉 wink wink. Iran is scared that they will become the next Iraq. They have every right to defend themselves. Imagine if they sent a drone here to spy on US.

I am more worried about Pakistan. I doubt that the country that was protecting Bin Laden are really our friends. So why does the US not question Pakistan? That's right because they have nuclear weapons.

Pakistan is also the only air route for supply into Afganistan. So as long as we need to operate facilities and maintain troops/personnel/embassy presence, we need to be friends with Pakistan, since the only other air route is through Iran (who by the way just fired on an unmanned drone flying in international airspace...)

I'm a little confused by your comment since you imply that if another country was flying in American airspace that they'd be shot down. This was in international airspace according to the article which is a blatant sign of unwarranted aggression. Granted, this may be all a bunch of propaganda and we really WERE over Iranian soil but the article doesn't state that.

Alwright!! Election 2 days over and its time to start the war drums. You people out there see whats happening dont ya? You saw it with Iraq, Libya, Syria, and now its Iran time. Better hurry up Obama, its bombin time, the oligarchy is calling, its payback time.

Why would they worry? They got their guy in our presidency! Shoot at whatever they want. If I was still military, I would be looking for any way out knowing our CIC gives not a D about our troops. Congrats libs. You voted to make us a third world country and non power. Watch our country unravel as you run out of my money to give to those of you that "just down have the energy" to go to work and make your own way.

I wonder if anyone has considered that the shots might of been warning shots. Perhaps they were showing they knew the drone was there and the shots were warning shots with them chasing it to make sure it got the message or something...then again that part of been the pilots just having a little fun with it I suppose. Regardless I'm sure if they actually intended to shoot it down it would of been shot down.

Sssshhh, you shouldn't post such intelligent remarks here. This forum is for Iran bashing only. How ridiculous to even asume that Iranians are capable of shooting down an unmanned aerial vehicle! ( sarcasm)

Then you better hope they were trying to miss. If Iranian fighter pilots can't even hit a UAV their airforce is even more laughable than we thought. At least they had the good sense not to waste a missile on it.
As for the claim that it was in international waters, the US frankly has no credibility on that, at this point I'd give at least 50-50 odds that it was in Iranian airspace. It's America's word against Iran and neither one is remotely trustworthy.

Are you really serious? An "act of war"? Leave it to the media. It was a DRONE. Was it enough to make us mad? Yes. An act of war? Come on. The media is stirring up controversy and there's gonna be some dumb redneck who's gonna go "Yeah! Let's go to war!" because of your lack of professionalism.

We need only to sit down with the Iranian mullahs without preconditions so they can be swayed by the irresistible personality of Obama the Sun King! Then they will come to love us, and all of our problems will disappear! Yes we can!

This is a load of absolute nonsense and lies! CNN what on earth! and what fools do you take the American people to be?!

If in doubt about the US drone taken down, peacefully...and with MORE technological know how than even the US, check out IRAN's Nuclear Advances! The US is threatened and 'OUR' oil source is in IRAN, go figure...so what does the US do?

No idiot believes this article, unless they haven't done their research...sad, sad MIS-information from so called REPORTERS!

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CNN's Security Clearance examines national and global security, terrorism and intelligence, as well as the economic, military, political and diplomatic effects of it around the globe, with contributions from CNN's national security team in Washington and CNN journalists around the world.